Jon Davies was until recently Head of Department of Religious Studies at the University of Newcastle, where he now teaches part-time.

• Introduction PART I Death in the Ancient Near East 1 Osiris and Isis: The life-theology of Ancient Egypt 2 Zoroaster, Ahura Mazda and Ahriman 3 Canaanites and Mesopotamians 4 Mere texts or living realities? The possible influence of the older thanatologies on Judaism and Christianity PART II From caves and rock-cut tombs to Judaism 5 The general archaeology of the Ancient Near East 6 Judaism: Towards the common era 7 Burying the Jewish dead 8 Good luck with your resurrection! Opening the heavens and raising the dead PART III Romans and Greeks: A theodicy of good fortune? 9 Roman and Greek philosophies of death 10 Roman religion and Roman funerals 11 Ovid’s ‘ever-varying forms’: Greek mythologies, sarcophagi and the boundaries of mortality 12 Ovid’s ‘bonds of love and duty’: Funerals, epitaphs, orations and death in the arena PART IV Christians, martyrs, soldiers, saints 13 Christian burial 14 The nature of martyrdom, Epilogue: Sacrificial living and sacrificial dying: Christians in the world

'a fascinating analysis of the significance of death in early Christianity ... an impressive wealth of archaelogical and literary data [and] the resulting work is clear and readable.' - The Expository Times Vol.III No.6 March 2000'... the total effect is of an original scholarly study' - William Frend, Church Times'Davis has produced a stimulating monogaphy on a vast subject' - Johan Leemans, Heythrop Journal'The book is easy to read, and provides a good introduction to the study of comparative funerary religion for archaeologists and others outside the discipline or religious studies.' - Assemblage, University of Sheffield'... the application of a Weberian approach is, in itself, a welcome and valuable contribution.' - Bernadette McNary-Zak, Rhodes College, Reviews in Religion and Theology